Uncertain future for Daniel Paille, Gregory Campbell as Bruins change up fourth line

Friday

Aug 15, 2014 at 11:12 PMAug 15, 2014 at 11:23 PM

With Shawn Thornton not brought back this offseason, the days of the Merlot Line are over.

By Dan CagenDaily News staff

MIDDLETON — It was after the long drive competition at Shawn Thornton’s charity golf event Monday that the host saw Daniel Paille and Gregory Campbell walking toward him.

Photographers asked them to gather for a photo. Thornton got Paille and Campbell’s attention, calling for his teammates. “Or my former teammates,” the newest Florida Panther corrected himself with a laugh.

So Paille, Campbell and Thornton got a photo op together. All that was missing for the Merlot Line was a bottle of wine.

With Thornton not brought back this offseason, the days of the Merlot Line are over. Yet Paille and Campbell still have one year each left on their contracts. Much how ‘The Godfather Part III’ had Francis Ford Coppola and Al Pacino but not Robert Duvall, Paille and Campbell will move on; their task is to create a better product than the film with Sofia Coppola and Andy Garcia.

“It’s definitely going to be a big change for both of us this year,” Paille said, referring to himself and Campbell. “We’re not sure where we’re going to be playing or playing with, for that matter. But I think we’re all just going to enjoy the moment and embrace it. If we happen to play with different players, we’re just going to enjoy it.”

The Merlot Line was used in its usual form from midway through the 2010-11 season through the second-round loss to the Canadiens this spring. For much of that time, it was the best fourth line in the business, their energy and physicality providing momentum overshadowing a lack of offensive pulse or possession. It’s not hyperbole to say they could be game-changers; just ask Alain Vigneault, circa June 15, 2011.

More on the style of play in a moment. First, Paille and Campbell may not even be on the fourth line, or in the lineup on a full-time basis.

The Bruins have discussed this summer moving Campbell to the wing, a position he played earlier in his career with the Panthers. Campbell is a below-average playmaker and the Bruins have survived his mediocre 47.8 faceoff percentage because their other centers are so good in the circle. If a more offensively capable center — say, Alexander Khokhlachev or especially Ryan Spooner, who isn’t a fit at wing — proves he’s ready in training camp, the Bruins are willing to push Campbell aside to make room, either to wing or perhaps even the press box.

“I don’t know, I haven’t talked to anybody within the organization, so I have to wait and see,” Campbell said. “[Coach Claude Julien] is the guy who changes the lines, so I’ll have to see. I’m fine playing wherever I can help out and wherever I can complement my other two linemates. There’ll be some changes certainly, not only on my line but on the other three lines as well, and that’s OK. That’s a new challenge and a new year and I’m excited for it.”

Paille has had enough trips to the third line over the last few years that he should have requested a green card. The fastest skater on the team and always the most offensively capable of the Merlot Line, Paille has the tools to fit on the No. 3 line, playing his off-wing in the spot vacated when Loui Eriksson moves up to the top line.

“I know my role here on the team and I have no complaints playing fourth line,” Paille said. “But if I get to play a third-line role, no complaints either. So I think I’m going to live up to the challenge if I’m able to do that, but if not I’m going to keep working the way I need to and be prepared for the season.”

The mild-mannered 30-year-old Paille, with nine goals last season and 30 in the last three years, admits he’s overthought his promotions at times. His numerous failed breakaways have become an annual event.

“I think that’s the expectation when you have that opportunity to play more minutes,” he said of taking on a more offensive role. “Your point numbers are going to go up, but in the same sense, if it doesn’t work out in a bit, you’re going to have droughts. I’ve been preparing myself to not get too frustrated if that happens and not get too excited.”

The coaching staff has pounded into Paille’s head that utilizing his speed is the No. 1 priority, regardless of what line he’s skating on.

“Now this year, I have played five seasons already here, and my role has generally been the same,” he said. “Yeah, I’ve moved up a few times, but I don’t want to change the way I’ve played because I know I need to hit and I need to skate, and skating is the big key. I don’t want to change that.”

By dumping Thornton and perhaps minimizing Campbell, the Bruins are skating away from the gritty fourth-line approach that was so successful for much of the past half-decade. Speed and skill are in, and cavemen are out. The best teams in the next five years will be the ones that commit to four lines of offensive weapons, the ones that can put defenses back on their heels at any time.

There was a sneak preview of this in the playoffs, with the Canadiens, Rangers and Blackhawks all going ‘Mighty Mouse’ with their fourth line — small and slick over big and brawny.

“The game is changing where there is a lot of skill and guys where they used to be top two lines and are fourth lines, where you look at [then-Ranger Brad] Richards and you look at [then-Hab Daniel] Briere,” Paille said. “It’s becoming more of a challenge to play against. In my spot and being on the fourth line, you have to be that much better.

“Last year, you look at the playoffs and we had a reputation of being a solid fourth line and you had a team we were playing against [in Montreal] that wanted to prove they were better. Unfortunately they got the better of us that round.”

Losing to the Habs was the last gasp for the Merlot Line and the beginning of the end for the style of play they symbolized. The Bruins will begin dipping their toes in this fast-paced water this season.

“It’s different, definitely. It’s making teams faster,” Paille said. “It’s definitely making it harder to compete, but at the same time it’s making it more enjoyable because you have the capability with the speed and in the same sense the grit. For someone like me, I like that. I’ve played like that my whole career. The fact that it’s going towards that, I enjoyed that.”